amstrad action số 002

Detailed review of the incredible value micro.
MEGA-MAP
Everyone's a Wally laid out in style
Created on Amstrad keyboards for
Amstrad
users
by
Ami trad addicts
No.2 NOVEMBER 1985£1
• The great linkup begins
• How you can join in
• Amazing modem + interface offer
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9
Spectrum Shops and al: good dealers.
AMSTRAD ACTION NOVEMBER
1
985
HOT REVIEWS
38 Dragontorc. Maroc the Mage stars in the mystical
arcade adventure

38 Wizard's Lair.
.•
2S6 screens of
fast,
tricky action
for Pothole Pete
.is
he tracks down the four pieces of the Golden Lion
46 THe Covenant. Space-bubble your way around
PSS's huge and pretty arcade adventure
52 Southern Belle. You really can hear the whistlo
b'.ow
in this
steam-train simulation
53 Bruce Lee. Brucie bounds on to the Arrjold. Take that
you nasty Yammo'
62 The Devil's Crown. Piracy on the high seas in
thisshipboardarcadeadventure.
64 Matcllday. Show off your soccor skills with Ocean's
table-topper
64 Raid! It's
not
over Moscow, but you can still have a pretty
good rap. comrade
72 Starion. Attain Creator status and impress your
friends. Superb vector graphics
NOVEMBER SPECIALS
22 The Great Link-Up. Modems. Prestel Bulletin
boards The communications revolution made simple
16 PCW Picture Show. Sizzling snaps from the

count
r
y
d
biggeest computer show
32 PCW 8256 Review. Amstrad'slatestmachine
investigated.
Is
Joyce a bargain?
92 Everyone's a Wally. The definitive map m
glorious Amstrad Actioncolor with 3D. No specs required.
JUICY OFFERS
101 Amazing Modem offer. Skywave
Multi-port and modem for only £129.95
87 Amsoft shocker. £600 worth of software to be
woninacecomp
102 Hewson twosome. Two raves up for grabs
in incredibly
difficult?)
competition
85 Mail Order. Get your games on the cheap with our
discount offer.
97 PSS double. 50 pairs of great games to bo won
95 Maps, pokes, tips. Thcre'sstill£300goingfor
the best contributions to Cheat Mode
104 Subscribe. Last chance to get in on this great AA
offer two FREE Ocean games.
ACTION REGULARS
£
8 Ed-Lines. Containing some very important

announcements
lOReAction. Introducing Arnold's perkiest lettorspages o '
Tho bit whore you get YOUR say.
fs \
r
-,7,
19 Amscene. All the latest news, including software on
the way for Xmas.
27 Bizprogs. Superpower's Mailing List Rom
scrutinised
37 Action Test. Over 30 games reviewed With new
4JT added INDEX
78 Adventures. ThoPilgrimpresentssomeprctty
graphics and some nifty peeks and pokes
88 CHeat Mode. The sneaky section presents bags of
tips, pokes and maps
f
98 High-Score. Readers' best efforts-plus, a chance
to challenge.
100 Ho t stuff. Charts and special offer form
1
54 Highway Encounter, stunningly smooth,
fiendishly
difficult.
hor ribly compulsive
BOUNTY BOB
STRIKES BACK!
Twenty-five Levels.
Multi Channel Music.
Dual Joystick Capability.

"Bounty Bob Strikes Back isthesequel to
"Miner 2049er" which was a huge success
on the Commodore 64 and Atari
machines. Now on the Amstrad. this ver-
sion features Bobs toughest challenge to
date and he needs your help more than
ever before to guide him through the mine.
The mutant organisms within have multi-
plied and over run the mine entirely,
making it extremely difficult to survive
the hazards of the underground passage-
ways. Using high powered special
equipment in the twenty-five caverns is
Bob's only hope of achieving his objective
of securing
the
mineand defeatingthe evil
plans of Yukon Yohan.
BEACH-HEAD
Multiscreen 3-D Arcade Action
A peaceful island is being held by a
ruthless dictator and his troops. As Chief
Commander of land and sea forces in
the Pacific, you must obtain a quick naval
victory and then invade the island with
land forces. If your troops succeed in
penetrating the island defence systems,
the most difficult challenge still
remains: capturing the enemy fortress of
Khun-Lin.

Beach-Head is a multiscreen action game
which requires different skills and
provides new sequences as you progress
through the game.
BRUCE LEE
Twenty secret chambers to explore
Unique multiple player options
Dazzling graphics and animation
In "Bruce Lee" you will experience the
power and the glory of Bruce Lee. one of
the greatest masters of the martial arts.
As Bruce Lee. you will confront a barrage
of vicious foes. You must penetrate the
fortress of the Evil Wizard and claim his
fortunes. Destroying the Wizard will earn
you immortality and infinite wealth!
f ' ' T *
iiui .
mil ,
i -y«
: z
n
:
.\\\
THE BEST OF AMERICA
U.S. GOLD ON THE AMSTRAD*- ONI
DAMBUSTERS
IMPOSSIBLE
MISSION
RAID!

Gripping Arcade Action
Superb Graphics and Sound
Multiple 3-D Scrolling Screens
At 21.15 hours on the evening of May 16th
1943.
a flight of specially prepared
Lancaster bombers left R.A.F. Scampton
for Germany. And
so.
one of the most dar-
ing and courageous raids of the Second
World War was underway. Now you have
the opportunity to relive the drama
and excitement of this famous action via
your Amstrad computer. You will take the
parts of Pilot. Navigator. Front and Rear
Gunners. Bomb Aimer and Flight Engineer
as you play this authentic reconstruction
of the night's events. The multiple screen
action is complemented by a compre-
hensive package of flight documents and
authentic material from the period.
Game of the Year 1985
British Micro Awards
The scene is one of World-wide conflict.
The only hope of saving the World from
nuclear annihilation
is
an attack by stealth
bombers on the launch sites.

As squadron leader, you must lead your
troops on
a
virtual suicide mission: knock-
out the launch sites, and proceed to
the command headquarters. Armed only
with the weapons you carry, you must
destroy the defence centre and stop the
attack!
Message from the Agency computer
" Your mission. Agent 4125 is to foil a
horrible plot. From an underground
laboratory. Elvin. the scientist, is holding
the world hostage under threat of nuclear
annihilation. You must penetrate his
stronghold, avoid his human-seeking
robots and find pieces of the security
code.
Somersault over the robots or use a
precious snooze code to deactivate them
long enough to search each room. Use the
Agency's computer to unscramble the
passwords from the code pieces, or try to
solve them yourself. You'd better
beware This mission is stamped
IMPOSSIBLE!"
U.S. Gold Limited. Unit 10.
The Parkway Industrial Centre
Heneage Street. Birmingham B7 4LY.
Telephone: 021-359 8881 Telex: 337268.

: GREAT GAME AFTER ANOTHER!,
y 'Vy^Vf
Nice Password.
Shame about the Identity.
It's a unique combination.
Your Special Identity Number
and Personal Password. The valu-
able key to huge databases teeming
with activity, set on our Mainframes
across the nation.
On Micronet 800, you're a
valued individual, adding your own
special flavour and personality to
the database.
Take our exciting new "Gallery"-
You control your personal screens
for all to see. The intriguing "Chatline"
public conversation service gives
you freedom to express your views
and meet some remarkable people.
All part of a tremendous Com-
munications section that networks
you to 60,000 Micronet and Prestel
users across the country. Try Tele-
shopping, or interview celebrities
live on "Celebrity Chatline" every
Wednesday night.
And there's FREE (& instant)
National Electronic Mail, plus Inter-
national Telex, and the Contact and

SwapShop bulletin boards.
Get computer news first on
Micronet's daily (and controversial)
"Newsflashes" and read up on the
latest reviews and courses. Feast
from our regularly changing menu of
programs to download straight into
your micro - absolutely free.
You also get access to Educa-
tional Computing's "School Link"
and Prestel's huge 300,000 page
database, including world news,
business & share bulletins and
optional homebanking. For only
£16.50 per quarter, that's less than
the price of a daily paper!
Micronet is unique amongst
networks and bulletin boards as it
keeps your phone costs very low with
special local* rate calls whenever
you connect up - that's around 40p
for a whole hours entertainment
each evening.
The only accessory you need is
a Modem, to get the best value for
money around in micro communi-
cations.
Fill in the coupon for the full
facts and send to Micronct 800, 8
Herbal Hill, London EC

1
R5EJ. But
be warned, Micronet 800 is a 'living'
service with ever-expanding fea-
tures. So maybe you'd be better to
call in at your local Micronet 800
Action Station. There are thousands
of Micronetters waiting to meet you !
S Heikil H,n
London KC1K 5KJ. Telephone 01 27S M M YM/9
Please send me the (till l.ict.s aUuit MKN.IU I SIMl
Name
Make/Modelol Mitm_
Address
Telephone
A/>- 1
• Foe 98% vf telephone u*rv
Prettel it a trademark of British Telecommunication* pic
J
New Blood Part 1
Dear Readers,
I can say that now, because after our first issue I know we've got
some. In
fact,
we've got thousands. There's been a great response
to our pleas for letters and questionnaires - you obviously take
your duties as readers and Amstrad owners very seriously
indeed.
The most interesting thing was to find out what a varied bunch
you are. Children, teenagers, adults, parents, grand-parents-we

got replies from the lot. The Arnold must have the broadest spec-
trum (sorry) of owners in the country. You can see what you've got
to say in the four pages of ReAction. Next month we hope to have
even more of your letters, so keep them coming.
Lots of you returned the questionnaires and gave us invalu-
able information on what you wanted from Amstrad Action. Your
wishes are our command, so you'll be seeing some changes in the
next issue - most importantly, the inclusion of occasional type-in
listings and readers' opinions on new software. See the separate
boxes on this page for more details.
This second issue also sees the first of the Readers' Charts for
games and serious software. Not too many surprises here, with a
remarkable degree of consensus on what's the tops. Our first
nationwide games sales chart is printed too, in Amscene. Action
Test kicks off with an introductory page. There's an index of games
reviewed and a detailed explanation of our ratings and reviewing
system.
Elsewhere in the mag there are some particularly stunning
games and some scrumptiously juicy offers - this is your last
chance to take advantage of our introductory subscription offer
featuring two Ocean games. Look out for the Mail Order service as
well.
If you saw the first issue of the mag, then you'll notice that
something's missing from this page (apart from some decent
jokes). Photos of the AA Team have been cut, savagely and ruth-
lessly and without any regard for the feelings of the people invol-
ved. This is because we're more concerned with your feelings,
which seem to have been shock, horror etc. on seeing our ugly
mugs. Some of you were appalled by our relative youth, some by
our revolting grins, some by a certain software editor's resem-

blance to characters in Dallas. Whatever the reasons, you didn't
like the look of us, and I can't say I blame you. So no AA Team
nasties this time - but we're showing you what the two new mem-
bers of the team look like because they're much more
presentable.
We think you'll find this issue a good read. We want to make it
even better, so keep your letters flooding in.
West country blues
Everyone told
us
that Somerset
was a
bit dead on the computer front, but
this is ridiculous While telephone
calls from all over the country reveal
Amstrad Action to be selling out in
numerous newsagents, herein
Somorton it s gone down likoalead
balloon Come on-salo day. five
copies ofissuo one turned up m this
village's two newsagents At time of
writing. 10 days later, five copies still
remain Aaaaaaaagh! Even our so-
called friends only flick through them
for
a
giggle before sm ugly returning
them to the shelf Mingy lot.
Now come on. people. There
must be SOMEONE with an Amstrad

somewhere in the region You've no
idea how terrible it feels to be stuck
out here alone amidst hundreds of
stra w-chewing. Spectrum-owning
yokels. Pass the cider, someone.
Salute to Toot
Many reader) hove written in to oik for more information about the
lifestyle of International superstar Toot, who first groced our pages lost
month.
Normally, Toot Is extremely reticent obout his privote life, but after much
pleading he agreed to make on exception for the reodors of Amstrad
Action ond to write us a diary of a typical doy In his rich and varied life -
the kind of life tho rost of us can only dreom of leading.
11
00a m l
am
wokon by my
faith-
ful Chinese manservant. Deng,
bringing breakfast on my
favourite silver tray While the
champagne chills to exactly the
right temperature
1
speed-read
through the mail and select the
half a dozen or so invitations
which seem at least faintly inter-
esting. Dinner with Diana and
Charles? Or a private box at the

Wham concert? Today, both
seem dreadfully boring. Life is
full
of
difficult
choices
But
at least
the view of Hyde Park from my
penthouse balcony is always
beautiful.
12 30 4
00
Luncheon with my fin-
ancial advisor at tho club She's
a
crashing bore with all her facts
and figures and profits and
losses
1
try to shift the convers-
ation to the latest Mastergame.
but she merely stares at me with
an expression of utter blankness
on her spreadsheet face Still, it
seems I am a few million richer
than last month and the brandy
here really is very good indeed
11
30 -

12
00 While Deng shaves
me I tolephone tho AA Team and
warn them
1
shall bo visiting this
afternoon. It's so touching to heal
the excitement in their voices
when they hear I'm coming.
4.CO - 5.00 Deng drives the Rolls
Royce Phantom Cloud Wraith
v/ith built-m Amstrad and jacuzzi
to Somorton I decido against the
jacuzzi and concentrate instead
on Highway Encounter which
Wade has called to toll mo may bo
the Mastergame
-
1 am almost im-
pressed. although it does seem
rather similar to an idea I had a
couple of years ago
500 The AA Team cheer and
throw their caps in tho air as
1
de-
scend with only a little help from
my Deng from the cushioned
depths of my Rolls Royce Phan-
tom Cloud Wraith with built-in

jacuzzi and Amstrad As 1 walk
down the red carpet and am in-
troduced to the new faces, be-
stowing a smile here and a word
of encouragement of there.
1
real-
ise what
a
great thrill
it is
for these
normally dull and misignificant
people to be near me. if only for
a
few moments
5 00 - 5 301 quiz the Publisher on
his finances, toll Wado what rat-
ings ho must givo tho games,
order the Editor to give mo pro-
minence in the magazine, and ro-
mind Trev' that
I
am rathor more
handsome than he is giving me
credit for They are all suitably
respectful I warn them that their
already tiny w,ige packets will be
even thinner if they do not do as
they are told

5 45 With tears in their eyes the
AA Team bid me farewell as 1
climb back in to the Rolls Royce
Phantom Cloud Wraith with built-
in jacuzzi and Amstrad When
will thoy seo mo again? The poor
things, they have no idea.
7 00 Time to prepare for the
evening I have decided to have
what peoplocall'a quiet night in
1
have seen enough of royalty and
pop stars this week So it will be a
little candlolit supper for
50
or so.
1
must try not to eat so much caviar
tonight. Can my waistline really
be thickening?
-I - U. UJ uJL
qgnpngec
8 00 After my bubble-bath and
massage Deng lays out
a
dozen or
so suits for me to choose from !
pick one at random they're all
so beautiful and listen to a little
Mozart whilo

I
slip into it
1
always
find Mozart so civilised Don't
you agree
0
9
001
greet my guests and realise
that I would rather have gone to
the Wham concert any concert
rather than face this collection of
politicians, film stars and mag-
nates Sometimes I almost crave
the company of ordinary people
1.00 a m I slip away to my bed-
room. leaving tho guests still guz-
zling the oxquisito food and
playing tho latest Amstrad
gamos An early night for me. as
1
curl up with the latest Jeffrey Ar-
cher It's the only way to get a
good night 's sleep
We toyed with the idea of a Third
Opinion. We considered adding a
Fourth. We thought of getting the local
Morris men to give their views. But in
the end, we thought the best people to

ask were you, the readers
What's he on obout? You may well
ask. The point Is, we're expanding our
reviews to moke them just obout the
best and most informative thing this
side of the Amcydopaedia Brittanica.
We want anybody who's played o
NEW, recently released gome to write
their own mini-reviow and send if to us.
We'll print your opinions along with
the main review and the Second
Opinion. If you don't get a deor idea
of a new game after that lot, you
never will.
Obviously, this system means you've
got to have access to brand spanking
new software. But remember - games
are often in the shops ot almost the
same time os we get our review copies.
So if you get the game, sprint home.
load up, give it a good work out and
then send off your review to us
—
all in
an afternoon.
There are no prizes for this. Just the
satisfaction of seeing your name and
opinion in print. And the knowledge
that you may have prevented
someone wasting their money or have

helped them on their way to a deeply
meaningful experience. Virtue is, after
all. Its own reward.
Your opinions should bo no longer than
80 words and be on a postcard or the
back of an envelope ONLY. You don't
need fo describe the game and say
what's happening - there aren't
enough words for thatl Just give your
comments on it in punchy, amusing or
angry style. Aim for something liko the
Second Opinion boxes in this issue.
The address to send to is: Voice of
the People, Amslrad Action, Valeside,
West Street, Somerton, Somerset
TA11 7 PS.
Listings
some really hot
stuff,
particularly
in the way of useful programs that
you don't need a degree in typ-
ing to enter. We're interested in
games as well, but only if they're
the pick of the bunch.
Naturally, we're going to
pay for these gems of programm-
ing - a minimum of £50 and up to
£100 for the cream. Make sure
you send us a copy of the

program on tape or disc, as well
as a clear print-out and a
stamped, addressed envelope if
you want your material returned.
Send the lot to:Listings Editor.
Amstrad Action, Valeside. Some-
rton. Somerset
TA11
7PS.
Yes, we're going to do it. Print
type-in program listings, that is.
You've asked for them, so you'll
get them. Because this is the mag
where what you want is what you
get. Mind you there is a substant-
ial minority of readers strongly
opposed to listings - if you're one
of those, don't panic. We're not
going overboard on
it
- probably
only one
a month.
The basic char-
acter of Amstrad Action won't
change!
Response to the question-
naire showed that a majority of
readers wanted to see listings of
either utilities or games in the

mag. So it's up to you to send us
Fearless,
frank, funny
AMSTRAD ACTION NOVEMBER 1985 9
Your chance to bite back is here at last. Four pages of
outrage, horror and abuse
—
and the odd word in our
favour. Editor Pete Connor tries to salvage the honour of
Amstrad Action with his replies. Some of these lucky
letter-writers will be receiving FREE SOFTWARE! So if you
want to make your views heard, and you like the idea of
getting something for almost nothing, send your letters
to: ReAction, Valeside, West Street, Somerton, Somerset
TA11 7PS.
Desperate plea
I've written in
to
express my view
on your new magazine. What can
I say? Brilliant, fantastic, wow!!
One point I must plead. Please -
no program listings.
Another minor quibble is
that it might be a good idea to cut
down the amount of software re-
views but go into more depth on
the ones you do review. Apart
from that, keep up the good
work. I am keenly awaiting my

next copy of Amstrad Action
through the post next month.
Ian Ridley
Liverpool
Sorry
Ian
- listings are
in. But
not
in a big
way,
so I don't think they
will spoil your enjoyment of the
mag. I
think
you '11 find
that
games
are reviewed
in
even more depth
this month and that they have
more space.
Minority Pursuit
Congratulations on an excellent
first issue of Amstrad Action. I
found it most interesting and ap-
preciated, in particular, Amsy-
clopedia and a regular Adven-
ture feature. We adventurers

may be a minority of computer
players, but we are very dedi-
cated to our task and we are
always on the lookout for new and
original puzzles. May
1
suggest an
Amsyclopedia of adventure
games?
Lorna Paterson
Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire
Hope you like the extra space
The Pilgrim gets in this issue.
He's pondering the idea of an Ad-
venture Amsyclopedia, but it's
a
mammoth
task,
even for someone
as
dedicated
as
he
is.
Amstrad Ami
For the first time I don't feel that a
review of
a
game
is

glib, but that it
has
actually been played. In other
magazines the reviewers of
games and add-ons tend to refer
to
ROMs and RAMs
etc.
very glib-
ly, in such a way that I feel almost
excluded. They are the 'experts'
and I the stupid one who has not
reached their level of expertise
yet.
It is in my nature to learn
slowly and I enjoy doing so. I do
not like to be told once "and
sorry boys that was in issue one
and we've sold out and hard luck'
- and to be verbally rapped.
By the way. my 464 is named
Ami. Has anyone else got a
named 464? Has Ami got any bro-
thers or sisters?
Brian Privett
London W2
Clad you like it Brian. We don't
want
anyone to feel we 're trying
to exclude them with boffin-talk

and technical wizardry. One
thing puzzles me though. Why
has your Amstrad got a French
name?
P
Zest is best
1 have been the proud owner of
an Amstrad for around a year
now and I must say I wouldn't be
happy with anything else. But I
have been disappointed with the
other magazines, finding the re-
views biased and the mags bor-
ing and generally lacking ZEST.
I eagerly awaited Amstrad
Action and. having thoroughly
read the first issue. I can't wait to
take out
a
year's subscription and
collect the two games. The re-
views are great and unlike other
magazines that do their reviews
out of five - which is ridiculous
and doesn't offer wide enough
scope give an excellent faithful
review I thought the magazine
was a little thin but I'm sure it will
grow thicker as AA takes off.
Julian Smalley

Selston, Notts.
The Young Ones?
Congratulations on a mega-
superb magazine Well, that's
what I think My dad thought I
should carry on getting Your
Computer. Ooops! Sorry
Now a few comments on the
A A Team. They look a bit young
to have a responsible position
Couldn't you get someone who
looks a bit more intelligent? And
as for Bob Ewmg, sorry Jenner
Wade. er . Bob Wade he looks
a
bit of a jerk.''The only serious-
looking person is Peter Connor.
Well, that's it Looking for-
ward to your next publication.
Robert Shepherd
Sutton-On-Sea, Lincolnshire
Ho w old do you ha ve to be to ha ve
a responsible position. Robert?
Anyway, after'gettmg out the first
issue, the last thing any of
as
felt
was young. Bob Wade is not a
jerk, but he does occasionally do
some stand-in work on Dallas.

And Peter Connor didn't look
serious just worried.
Ratings rage
Great mag, great reviews, great
competitions. The reviews were
quite accurate but how .can Fist
have a Staying Power rating of
95%? It's the most boring game
I've played for ages. 'Plenty of
lasting challenge in all 10 dans':
all that changes are
a
few levels of
difficulty. I would give it around
30%.
Mat Brown
Bob Wade stands by his rating. Of
course, if you re a pacifist I can
see you might not like it
The best days
of your life
After coming back from my
holidays feeling despondent,
walking to school on a grey
Thursday morning. 1 had one
pound left from my hols.
I walked into the newsagents
to buy some sweets. As
I
was wal-

king to the counter I glimpsed
over towards the magazines and
saw a green eye glaring straight
back at me. Forget the sweets - a
new Amstrad mag! With 130
games tested! I couldn't believe
my eyes.
I opened the magazine with
baited breath and saw page after
page of reviews. I thought brill.
This is the mag for me. Just v/hat
I've been waiting for At last, no
more stupid program listings that
don't work. Just game reviews
and the latest news. Out with the
cash in a flash without hesitation
and
I
walked to school reading it.
First lesson, double maths.
What a drag. But not for me,
because I had my Amstrad Ac-
tion. So out with the mag to get
10 NOVEMBER 1985 AMSTRAD ACTION ciassy letters . sassy replies
fc
Big spender
Having bought your brill, excell-
ent. superb mag I must say for a
first issue it ain't bad. However,
there is just one small teeny-

weeny grumble. Looking
through your mag - with trusty
pen and cheque book
-1
casually
wrote cheques worth £28.85.
Would it be possible not to make
your reviews so persuasive?
To add to this moment of
sheer extravagance my
Amstrad's tape-deck packed up.
It has. unfortunately, been sent
out to the computer's equivalent
of
a
hospital. Now I'm faced with
the prospect of having three
super, whizz, pow. bang
etc.games with nothing to play
them
on.
Now Combat Lynx won't
get lynxed. Alien 8 will stay alien
and Beach-head won't get
landed.
Still, life goes
on.
I've still got
the cat to boot about! I'm looking
forward to the next issue and

hoping it's better - if that's truly
possible - than the first issue.
S.Lota
London E7
You have our sympathy, but we
hope you don't really take out
your frustration on the
car.
Shy adventurer
I
was passing the newsagent's the
other day when I saw
this brill.
fab
etc. piece of literature standing
on the news-stand (quite logical
really) and guess what I deci-
ded to buy Amstrad Action
instead.
some action.
I
got so carried away
reading it I didn't see the teacher
come over to my desk. He confis-
cated it till the end of the day. Oh,
well, back to the boredom of the
maths lesson. When the teacher
went back to his desk he started
reading
it.

At three o'clock
I
v/ent
to collect the mag. I asked the
teacher if he'd enjoyed
it.
At last I
could read it through to the end.
My mum was glad because I
wasn't using my Amstrad - she's
always nagging me for using it
too
much.
All
I
can say is brilliant,
fantastic, superb the ultimate
magazine.
Paul Edwards
Stevenage, Herts.
Seriously, though. I really
like it. Bob Wade's method of re-
viewing is very good, especially
the use of percentages. 1 was
very impressed by the reviews
for the various adventure games,
but I've never played an adven-
ture before. I'd ask The Pilgrim,
but I've got a feeling he wouldn't
be willing to speak to someone

who doesn't even know how to
deal with a dwarf. I want to ask
which would be an adventure
game that an utter useless novice
such as myself could attempt. I
mean one where I wouldn't kill
myself within lOseconds.
Abdul Choudhury
Manchester
Afraid of The Pilgrim? Don't be
silly. He's one of the most sym-
pathetic adventurers I've ever
come across. I'm sure he'd be
very happy to help. So go ahead
ask him.
Pale and Insipid
Here are my comments on
Amstrad Action.
Reviews: the basic format is very
good, but surely the use of more
colour would brighten them up a
great deal. Also, why not a Third
Opinion?
Overall tone: rather pale and in-
sipid. More colour would help.
Although it is the first issue, and
reader's letters can't be expec-
ted yet, their absence shows just
how crucial they are. And the
more the better.

Amsyclopedia: this is very wel-
come, but could it be better orga-
nised in future? Also, could you
ring the changes on the titles re-
viewed every monIn. I assume it
will be a regular feature.
Advertisements: Is it really in
order for a software house to
hype one of its programs in a
machine-specific magazine by
using quotes from reviews of the
that program for another
cmputer?
Competitions: If these are going
to
be regular, please do not go for
the spot-the -difference or word-
square type, but try to get your
readers to use their
brains.
And if
you are going to run more than
one competition in each issue,
could you make it possible to for
all us comp freaks to send in all
our replies on one envelope?
J.V.Gray
Portsmouth
Pale and insipid? Come off it Mr.
Cray - you obviously like very

strong meat indeed. As for a
Third Opinion, we'll be doing
even better than that from the
next issue onwards. See Edlines
for details.
I couldn
't
agree more about
letters. The proof is in these four
pages. Amsyclopedia is not a
regular, but was a special feature
for the first issue. Advertise-
ments are something
that
every-
body reads with eagle eyes - we
think readers are shrewd
enough to see what's
what.
With
competitions it makes life in-
credibly complex if we can't file
entries in separate places and
we think we 've got some pretty
interesting ones on the way
Travel sickness
1 would like to congratulate you
on an excellent magazine It is by
far the best one available for the
Amstrad. I do. however, have

some constructive criticisms,
which
I
hope you take note of
In reviews of conversions I
am sure readers would be inter-
ested in how well the game trav-
elled. For example. Beach-Head
from US Gold was described as
the best game of its type on the
Amstrad. It is. in fact, a very
chunky game in comparison with
the Commodore or Spectrum
versions.
Also. Exploding Fist from
Melbourne House, although
graphically very good, did not^-
like the Commodore version
feature bulls, changing back-
grounds. or speech and music
(apart from
a
small jingle).
It is apparent both versions
suffered from hurried conver-
sions so if magazines like yours
highlight the problem. I am sure
this will become more rare
H.
Kasser

Ilford, Essex
We think Amstrad games should
be judged on their merits as
Amstrad games, and not on how
they shape up to the original if
they're conversions. Of course, if
it looks like a conversion has
been done shoddily or in a rush,
we '11 say so.
But
we were mightily
impressed with the games you
mentioned. Software houses are
now using the Amstrad as a de-
velopement machine that
means that games will be original
and there will be no question of
how well they've been
converted
Sequel sadness
Amstrad Action is a breath of
fresh air. After being besieged
by third-rate mags for months,
you're like the 7th Cavalry!
Although not a games mag in the
true sense, with small bits on the
smaller operations (i.e. business,
hardware) the review section is
simply the best.
With a stylish, modern look,

a bustworthy team of reviewers -
ex-PCG
to
mag readers
is
like ex-
Green Berets to army officers -
and Toot, it's
a
sure-fire winner.
But now
I
must do my bit to try
and improve it.
It's about sequels of games
where the predecessor has sold
in droves. In their own right, they
may be great. But they may be
easier, old hat. less value for
money or just plain boring to a
person with the first part.
The classic case is Knight
Lore and Alien 8. The latter is a
great game with terrific graphics
and animation and unbeatable
gameplay. but a Knight Lore
owner may feel cheated. And in
some aspects, rightly so. How-
ever. Ultimate's graphics are
always only half of the game's ap-

peal. The challenges are always
exhausting and skill is needed to
beat them, so
it is
here
that
Alien 8
wins.
Perhaps you will try to re-
member that games are expens-
ive and no-one wants to pay for
the same thing twice.
LiamMcMaster
Whitehaven, Cumbria
You're right. Games certainly
are expensive, and we '11 carry on
doing our best to make sure you
don't
waste
your money on rubb-
ish. I see what you mean about
some sequels being very similar
to the predecessors, but in the
case of the Ultimate games I think
that
if you had Knight Lore you'd
probably have given an arm and
a leg to gel Alien 8.
No begging
letters, please

AMSTRAD ACTION NOVEMBER 1985 11
To List or
not to List?
Congratulations! I didn't know it
was possible to publish a new
magazine and make it an immedi-
ate No.l. I've read quite a few
mags to try to find one that would
give me just what I want - soft-
ware reviews - and most of them
go half way by only giving a few
pages of reviews. The rest of the
mag is usually full of nibbish
trying to make it look fuller and
more value-for-money. Your
mag is definitely a hit with me. I'll
be subscribing as soon as
1
save
the cash!
Please don't start putting in
type-in listings - there are plenty
of mags around already that have
pages and pages of
that,
and you
don't need to do it.
On the game-voting chart
you only allow 10 votes for five
games. 1 think it's impossible

trying to pick up to five games
with only
10
votes between them.
I would have given all
10
votes to
Exploding Fist, only I had some
other semi-favourites. Dun Dar-
ach is a good, but time-
consuming arcade adventure.
Until I work out why some things
work it will take more of my
beauty-sleep.
It's great to see more inde-
pendent software companies and
publishers taking an interest in
what
I
would say - very biasedly -
is the best home/small business
computer on the market.
So. congratulations again. I
hope you'll grow in everyone
else's estimates, as well as make
tonnes of pennies.
And Toot is A-mazing.
Stan
Glendenning
Darlington, Durham

We think it's the best home/small
business computer on the mar-
ket. too. As far as listings go. the
response to our questionnaire
suggests
that
they are in demand
so we're going to be printing
probably one a month. Sorry
about that Stan, bur you can
always skip the pages or just ad-
mire the artwork. 10 votes
seemed pretty generous to us -
anymore and we'd have to em-
ploy an army of counters to tot
them up.
Colour comment
I have only one comment. That is
that
some of your screen shots are
in black and white. They should
be in colour because it makes a
lot of difference to the overall
screen shot. Apart from that your
mag is great.
Jesse Arthur
Heathfiold. E.Sussex
Compatibility
May
I

say how welcome and long-
overdue your magazine is How-
ever. upon perusing
it. I
have one
serious criticism.
On the cover is emblazoned
'Power-packed reviews each
month for the CPC 464 and 664.'
So far so good. But as the proud
owner of a 664 (conned by
Amstrad marketing policy) I
searched the contents of your
magazine for any mention of any
of the games being reviewed
being compatible or otherwise
with the 664. No such mention
exists. I feel that your magazine,
in company with the other two
existing magazines, displays
great insensitivity towards 664
owners in not providing thihs
information.
May
I
suggest in future a brief re-
mark beside each game re-
viewed. such as 464/664 compat-
ible would solve the problem.
P.J.E.

Marshall
Swindon, Wilts.
You 're absolutely right Mr. Mar-
shall. and with the new 6128
there s even more call for this in-
formation. So from the next issue
on we
'11
be providing a clear ind-
ication of a game's compatibility
across the Amstrad range.
Disgusted
First let me congratulate you on a
fantastic magazine which is in my
opinion - and other Amstrad
Users' - long overdue Nov/1 can
look forward to better value for
my money each month when
buying a magazine.
Secondly. I'd like to voice my dis-
gust to Amstrad who slyly an-
nounced the birth of the CPC 6128
and the death of the short-lived
CPC 664. Having sold my 464 for
the faster disc-driven 664 for the
cost of £335. the following day
Alan Sugar announces another
addition to the Amstrad family -
the 128K selling at £299. £35
cheaper. Why the death of the

664? Alan Sugar replied that it
was due to
a
'leap in technology'.
Surely he knew he could turn out
a 128K machine for £299 before
the 664 was launched? It makes
you wonder if the 6128 is good
value. Or is there a CPC2565
awaiting launch at Christmas for
the same price. So is it worth
buying a new computer today or
buying a second-hand one. con-
sidering 'leaps in technology'?
Once again congratulations on a
great mag and I look forward to
seeing you on the stands every
month.
Paul Formosa
Cardiff
We sympathise with your plight
Paul. It must be like buying a
horse and cart just before the
motor car comes out. Do any
other 664 owners have strong
feelings on this?
The Bizzness
It is about time someone had the
guts to "do the bizzness" and
bring out a truly independent

magazine for the Amstrad. I only
wonder what your mag will con-
tain in future months, as you've
gone through all the software in
one issue.
Right, so I like the launch
issue, but I have some questions
to ask and some contentions to
contond.
1. Why do most software houses
use the slow load/save speed? If
they are worried about safety
then why not have one side slow
and the otherlast?
2. Name a reliable tape-copying
utility, so that I can have fast-
loading copies of my present
software. Or, better still, publish
a listing. I'm cheesed off with
waiting.
4.
Where is Elite, the game? I want
it, and
I
want it now.
6.1
hate cheating pokes etc. Why
can't people play the game as it
was meant to be played instead of
fiddling about. Fair enough, give

some tips on strategy
etc.
You can
gain by cheating by poker or
something - but what do you gain
by having a zillion lives in Knight
Lore? Just the feeling that you've
cheated.
Spud Murphy
Swansea
Software houses use slow loads
because it's much more reliable.
Name a tape-copying utility? I
might as well put my head in a
noose. I can understand your im-
patience about Elite, but I'm
afraid you just can't have it now.
Try
v/aiting
until the end of Octo-
ber. Playing tips are something
you don 'thave to read if you
v/ant
to play the game unaided. What
you gain by having
a
zillion lives
in a game is a better chance of
solving it.
Value for Money

I would like to thank you for the
first issue of Amstrad Action.
A lot of the magazine
is
good.
but I would like to see
game/utility and Basic and Ma-
chine Code articles.
The only criticism I have of
the reviews is that there is no
Value for Money heading, but
there is Grab Factor and Staying
Power. To me they mean the
same!
Perhaps you could mention
two clubs for me? they are the AP
Exchange and the Manchester
Amstrad User Club. AP Ex-
change is for the amateur pro-
grammer. For a sample newslet-
ter send £1 to N. Godwin. 4 Hur-
bur Crescent. Eyemouth. Ber-
wickshire. Scotland
TD14
SAP.
The Manchester Amstrad
User Club is aimed at the
beginner and has its own news-
letter. Membership is £8 a year.
For more information write to

Steve Stanner. 21 Gatling Ave
Longsight, Manchester
M12
5SX
C.Bryant
Seaton, Devon
We're introducing some listings
in future
issues.
Value for Money
is included in the AA Rating,
which takes into account all fac-
tors in
a
game.
12 NOVEMBER 1985 AMSTRAD ACTION UWERIY
»MT
Feve*vo^€ ro
.OS*
©CO
amdwm
Mono moan
I I am wriling to congratulate you
I on publishing such an excellent
I magazine.
The only complaint I have is
I that you don't use colour in your
J
Amsyclopaedia It would be a lot
better if you did because at the

I moment this section looks dull.
! But otherwise a fantastic
| magazine
Curprcct Sanghcra
West Bromwich. West Midlands
I Unfortunately, we can t use
I colour ever/where if we did.
:he cover price of the magazine
would be about
£10
We think the
I
colour pages are best used for
| reviews of the hot new games so
|
that
we can show you what they
really look like
Not the mag for him
I bought the first issue of Amstrad
Action today, because according
to the cover
full
details of the new
Amstrads wore inside.
All
I
could find was
a
brief note on

page 8 concerning the two now
machines - hardly full details,
which should cover at least 2
pages for EACH machine.
I
would
hate to read your version of other
magazines' brief reviews.
I then turned to page 28 to read
the Wordstar re view WHAT is a
WROD-PROCESSOR????
It's not the magazine for me.
J.H.Treacy
London N19
A brief note? Two pagessoemsa
bit more than that. Full spec,
photos. software houses'
reactions Try the
8256
review in
this issue - if you 're still
with us.
A
WROD processor is a joke - the
kind of thing that happens when
you make a mistake on a WORD
processor.
Club request
You obviously need to know what
kind of reader you are attracting.

Well. I'm 38. married (no kids),
working full-time as a despatch
supervisor, own an Amstrad 464
and previously used my father's
ZX81. and when he up-graded,
his Spectrum. Some consider me
to be a character - they are prob-
ably right!
About reviews: from the
answers you get on the question-
naire. why not pick three or four
readers and invite them to re-
view software for you to supple-
ment your own reviews. Pick one
for each age-
group/background. That way
you will get a slice of opinion
which reflects the views of the
people who actually buy the
software.
Another idea v/ould be a
contact page where readers can
get in touch with others (Help -
how do
I
get out of the guardroom
in Robin of Sherwood) who are
playing the same games or who
have tips they can pass on.
You could also start up your

very own AAC - Amstrad Action
Club - and organise visits to
Amstrad themselves, or to soft-
ware houses
to
see how it
is
done.
Arrange feedback get-togethers
where we can tell the software
and hardware people what we
would like to see on the market.
Thanks for
a
magazine which
promises to become great.
Alan
Worthing, Sussex
We won't be doing quite what
you suggest Alan, but pretty
near. So if you fancy letting the
world know
what
you feel about a
game, read the piece in Ed-Lines
and then get writing. A contact
page isn't really possible at the
moment - what would we drop to
make room for it?But we re more
than happy to print names and ad -

dresses of clubs here in
Re Action. As for our own club, it's
a nice idea but we really haven't
got the time. Getting the mag out
is a pretty big job in itself - we
don
t
get any time off.
Showing promise
I have just read the first issue of
your
mag.
It shows promise - and
everyone's got to start some-
where. Just think, such enterpr-
ise in Somerton. I regularly visit
the area and it will never seem
tho tame again. Such a sleepy
place concealing such initiative
and talent. How could I possibly
not
support such a venture? I may
even be tempted into a subscrip-
tion
if
the
right incentives present
themselves (I don't fancy any of
the games on offer this month)
Seriously

though.
Got a good
proof reader? Without even
trying - Page 20: for 'WROD pro-
cessor', read 'WORD processor'.
Front cover: for 'FREE see page
96',
read 'FREE see page
84*.
The
existing proof-reader wants a
WROD in his ear! You can't get
the
staff you know.
More seriously, though, and
on a more sombre note - a good
effort for a first mag. All teething
troubles will sort themselves out.
But it will be difficult with such a
comparatively young editorial
staff to aim the magazine at the
right level of interst. In my parti-
cular area, for instance, a large
number of Amstrad owners are
aged 38 - 48 years. While there
should be content in the mag (or
all age-groups it would be a mis-
take to gear it more exclusively
towards the young enthusiast, or
to make it too

flash
or too trendy in
presentation.
I think the magazine, while it
should be a readable and a well-
balanced diet of light-hearted re-
partee and serious matters,
should above all be professional
in approach, outlook and pre-
sentation., It is, in my view,
counter-productive to sacrifice
quality and preparation for lower
production costs and, perhaps,
an ill-considered image. Never
forget where the money is - i.e.
with Dad. or so my children think
- and who has to be persuaded to
part with it
I look forward to your future
magazines with interest and sin-
cerely hope you get it right.
There is always room for a good
honest mag with the interests of
its readers
at
heart.
D.J.Simmons
Shore ham-by-Sea, Sussex
It's a fair cop. Mr.Simmons -
almost. There were many errors

in the first issue, mainly due to the
horrible rush to get it ready on
rime. Not to mention technolog-
ical teething troubles. But WROD
really
was
intentional. It was sup-
posed to be a joke. Honest.
We re very conscious of the
need to produce a magazine
that
Amstrad owners genuinely
want
to read, which is why letters like
yours are so valuable. But
Somerton's not that sleepy, you
know.
Shock horror!
I am appalled!
I have just purchased and
read the
first
copy of Amstrad Ac-
tion and
1
find it extrememly off-
ensive Personally I would give
up now because the magazine is
of a poor quality
You lower the general class

of the magazine by constant use of
the words susiscd' and sonics'
The only point to your credit is
the Amsyclopedia. which is still
not per feet as it is not in alphabet-
ical order
David Butterworth
Lymington. Hampshire
Wo strive for perfection. David,
and are truly sorry for any off-
ense we may have given you by
our use of the English Language.
Atnsyclopedia was written by
category of game Perhaps you
should stick to The Times Bur
they don
t
review as many games
as
v/e
do
1
can assure other re-
aders that ive are not going to
give up.
c#niJor«piM»
AMSTRAD ACTION NOVEMBER 198513
Slightly mad?
Congratulations on the success-
ful launch of Amstrad Action. It's

bright, informative, slightly mad
and good value for money.
I
curr-
ently subscribe to ******* , but
that is likely to change. Your
'rivals' appear to be very good
for people who have a back-
ground knowledge of comput-
ing. but as I've only owned an
Arnold for about five months and
find very little spare time, they
are invariably too technical. Art-
icles about Sideways ROM.
CP/M. Hisoft C. Machine Code
etc. are quite simply over my
head.
However. Amstrad Action ap-
pears to be more my kind of mag.
It's difficult to determine how
good a publication is after only
one issue, but it feels right. Hope-
fully. I'll be able to progress with
the mag as the months go by.
About the mag itself. Amsyclo-
pedia
is a
great idea. There v/ere
many many reviews I hadn't
read, and it will be invaluable

when choosing future software
.
A
mistake can be costly, software
prices being what they are.
I love the Cheat Mode pages. Sor-
cery won't be quite so frustrat-
ing. How about a regular feature
for beginners like me on the bare
bones of a listing? I've typed in a
few listings in the past few
months, but do not really inde-
rstand what each line does.
I've enclosed the questionnaire.
Funny. I've never written to a
mag before.
T.K. Robertson
Pontypridd
We re going to be printing some
listings in future issues, but we'll
ensure that they're clearly pre-
sented and fully explained. We '11
also be covering some of the
topics you mentioned - but in a
non-boffin way. As for 'slightly
mad', there are people here who
are totally bonkers.
CONMOfc: rue *M4CWA4V
OF SArtlT-y AT AA
Unprof progs

Congratulations on a very enter-
taining first issue. I liked it all
very much. It's about time we
Amstrad owners got a decent
magazine which does not lecture
us on processors, technical mat-
ters and generally useless info.
I would like to mention one or
two aspects of Amstrad software
1. Some top progs are very un-
professional. Ghostbusters fea
tures scrolling designed to give
people headaches. Exp.
Fist has a naff high-score tabl
and your man sometimes merges
with the other in between games
2. Some conversions, e.g. Jet
Willy, do not make full use of the
Amstrad's capabilities - in parti-
cular, sound. Please put pressure
on companies to produce decent
sound and music.
3.
Availability - no major shops in
my area have up-to-date
software.
BenVicken
Stratford-upon-Avon
High-score kid
1 have just bought your first edi-

tion. It was very good and I hope
the next one I buy will be just as
good. Arnold is our first com-
puter and as
I
am a busy wife and
mum I don't have as much time as I
would like to uses
it. Still. I
mustn't
complain
I
am going to drag my
ever-loving husband to the Lon-
don exhibition with me.
I hope that - unlike some
other magazines - you will not as-
sume that all computer users are
male and under 30.1 get fed up
with articles that say 'EVEN mum
can do
it.' I
doa couple of evening
classes in Basic and although
I
am
not a genius I know a little. So
don't be condescending please.
Do you know any good zapp-
ing games that are not too fast for

a seven and a half year old who
gets very frustrated when these
quick games kill him off before he
gets going. He just wants his
name on the high-score table.
Mrs. Pauline Hinton
Reading, Berks.
We certmly won't be condes-
cending. Mrs. Hinton - if only
because we're not boffins our-
selves. Just enthusiasts like your-
self And there
'11
be no sexism or
MUMism either. We reckon
Amsoft's Laserwarp or Alien
Break-In should be the kind of
games your son could do very
well at. Both are £3.95 and re-
viewed in Issue One's
Amsyclopedia.
Pirate Pal
I am writing to you about a friend
of mine who shall remain name
less and his habit oI buying
games He will go into
a
shop, buy
a game pirate it take it back
makeup an excuse and exchange

it for another or get his money
back Once he bought three
£1
99
games, kept them for four months
and used them as blanks until
they were broken Then he took
them back saying his mum had
bought them yesterday for the
wrong computer and got his
money back
I think this kind of attitude
rums software companies At the
moment I am saving up for
Hypersports whereas my friend
would jus: pirate it ana take it
back
R.Edwards
Crewe. Cheshire
That s
.i
pretty sneaky pal you ve
got there And you re right this
sort of thing does damage soft-
ware companies, and in the end,
the software user Does your
friend know that he's not just
cheating, but breaking the :a w?
The official version
I like your mag. Even more I like the refreshing and lively style the

format takes. You see. ever since I started to use an Amstrad
computer I have known only the 'official' method of magazine
publishing. Mainly boring straight-faced editorial attempting to
pad out lively colourful adverts.
I liked your word processor comparison. I have become very
much at home with Tasword and with that in mind I have given
below a quick list of personalisings that colour users may find
acceptable.
The following numbers entered in place of the ones shown in
brackets in the customising mode will give a restful colourset and
a left margin which is handy in printing.
After answering Y to Change Prcgram. type in the following
numbers:
Pen Colour 23 Cursor Shape 4
Paper Colour
1
Cursor Type
1
Border Colour I Left Margin 3
Border Colour 2 Right Margin 80
That's all from me this time.
I
don't neccessarily expect you to print
this letter but please, please let's see plenty printed. That's one of
the other problems with 'officialdom', they don't like to publish
letters much. I wonder why-
Paul Hayes
Bexhihll-on-Sea, Sussex m
14 NOVEMBER 1985 AMSTRAD ACTIONPS Drop us a line
One of the great classic games of all time is now

available to even more of you—Amstrad and
Atari owners everywhere can now experi-
ence the ultimate underground journey
Search through the 16 caves,each with 5
levels of difficulty and collect as many
jewels as quickly as possible. Don t forget
P
to block the amoebas, transform the
butterflies, or outmanoeuvre the fire-
flies
—
or youll never get out alive!
•
Available September 5th
Amstrad CPC464 and Atari 48K versions
back-to-back on one tape at £9.95.
'Ashkeron
is
something for ever/one: a
complex,
challenging,
witty game for
the adventurer, and its
got pretty pics for the
zap'em crowd. An excellent game - buy it!'-
Home
Computing Weekly
'It
is
highly professional,sophisticated software in its

walls lies a challenge everyone will find interesting and
rewarding'-
Crash Micro
This game gets my royal assent'-
Your Spectrum
A charming graphic adventure
—
MicroScope , ^
Available now (or
Amstrad CPC464 £6.95
Spectrum 48K £5.95
With built-in competition!
Personal
Maxwell House,74 Worship Street,London EC2A2EN
Trade orders
to:
Purnell Book Centre, Paulton, Bristol BS18 5LQ
(ft® *<t<* <••
• THE PCW «
| PICTURE ?
i SHOW s
d Faces, fun and glamour from (J
A the country's biggest computer exhibition.
• The only Rambo
look-olike o» the show
seemed fo be on the wrong
stand. System 3 hod hired
him to add a bit of muscle
to their razzamatazz.
But isn't it Ocean who arc

doing the Rambo game?
The PCW show was just as expected - noisy, crowded and very production copies of Amstrad Action we were carrying. Of course, the
exciting. Despite the huge queues at 10a.m. on the opening day the AA tickets may have helped.
Team gained instant admission, perhaps thanks to those glossy pre-
time for the show and promised Amstrad versions of System3"sAndyShaftedefended
materialised only in ihe shape of Spitfire
-10
in mid-October and the show If you were
a
kid would
videos of the films and TV progs Dynamite Dan II before you r.ither see a big stand saying
they're taken from Ocean had Christmas Llsewhere. assorted how much, money we ve got. or
Rambo doing his over muscled magicians and pirates wandered some naughty girls
7
I'm not sure
stuff in Nam while Melbourne around Dwarfing all of them was Andy On the Saturday the
House showed clips from the the monumental figure of Geoff organisers told System 3 to get
cartoon of Lord of the Rings US Capes, playing his own game on ridofthegirls Theygot ndofthe
Gold displayed bits of Goonies. the Martech stand It should be stand By the following week
the latest Stephen Spielberg film with uson the Amstrad very soon Andy Shafte was no longer
Personal appearances were Most outrageous stand of the working for System 3
the order of the day for .i number show was System 3 s To
of characters Mirrorsoft had an publicise their game Twister • Ricordo Pinto - left - and Dominic
oversize Mr Man waddling mother of Hat lots, three scantily- Prior - right - are Torus, the people
around preceded by a young clad women writhed and bringing £///eonto the Amstrad very short
lady
in a
short skirt One lady not wriggled on a tiny stage while ly. Don't ask me who the other two are.
wearing a short skirt was snarling at the audience and
Mirrorsoft s P.it Bitton who slashing each other with whips

Inside the Amstrad stand
was attracting some he.ivy
attention as crowds flocked
round the first public display of
the now
6128
and 8256 machines
There was plenty of new software
for them
to
see too including 3D
Grand Prix md 3D Boxing as
well as guest appearances by
snooker player Alex Htggins
and soccer star Glenn Hoddle in
support of the games bearing
their names Hardware star Alan
Sugar was also there, in support
of the machines bearing hi-
name
Elsewhere, many of the big
games had failed to make it in
• People crowding round the new
machines on the Amstrad stand.
A \ panoramic view of
Olympic, home of the
software Gods.
< Two sophisticated examples of Artificial Intelligence
engage in a free and frank discussion of philosophical
issues.

• Tim Chaney of US Gold with just a few of the many
video screens on his stand.
16 NOVEMBER 1985 AMSTRAD ACTION n,
^ Rombo, Rombo, Rambo, Rambo,
Rambo, Rambo. Rambo, Rambo.
Rambo, Rambo, Rambo.
Rambo Ocean arc producing a game
colled
Rombo.
A An AA
Team
member
wailing to
be paid.
• Firebird*! Herbert
Wright (centre) finds
something interesting
n Amstrad Action.
Must
have been his
photograph.
• Soccer stor Glen Moddle offer-
displaying hit thills on a joystick with hit
Amioft football gome.
AMSTRAD ACTION NOVEMBER 1985 17
TheirMppte*! news
• Activision's Andy
Wright plays a
Spectrum gome. Or
hos he just got a

nasty shock?
' Rod Cousens, formerly of Qukksilva,
now of Electric Dream*, here seen in the
company of Activision's Care Trotter.
This distinguished gentlemc
none other than Merloc*
.Mede, who will be making
[appearance in a forthcor
scries of adventi
^^^B^from Terminal. J
r hope'
M progrommir
J as good as the costil
• David
Polmer(left)
and Mike
Mohoney
sporting
< A Stray pirate from
the Mikrogen stand.
Looks altogether too
young »o be in the
bucaneering business.
4 Ouack, quack. Two
Donold Ducks hanging
around the US Gold stand,
• Geoff Capes, ex-world's strongest
man, waggles for dear life on the
Mortech stand. Wonder whot joystick
he prefers?

18 NOVEMBER 1985 AMSTRAD ACTION
Ariola's five
Anolasoft arc winding up for the
Christmas bonanza by releasing
":vo
titles in October and Novem
Pre-Amstrad versions of
hese could be seen running on
Their
2CO-square-foot video wall*
»t the PCVV
show
First out. towards the end of
: :tober will be Archonand One
One The first of these is a
olend of strategy and action on a
rhess board if you want to take
a
piece you
11
be forced
to
do battle
with your opponent Archon
:osts £ 10
95 a bit extra because
;t comes in a de-luxe box with
booklet One on One is the hit
basketball game in which you
tontrol either Larry Bird or Dr

"uhus Irving, two very tall men
who h.ippen to be the biggest
stars in US ball There's no de-
.uxe box so
it
only costs £8.95
Other imminent releases are
Skyfox the super-flight-
simulator and Wizard, a 100-
screen adventure game
Both
will
cost around £9 00 and should be
available in early November.
Up, Up and Away
with Beyond
Beyond are planning a soaraway
future for the Amstrad with not
just
Spy vsSpy
and
Shadowfireon
the way but Superman the game
and Nexus
Superman is expected in
November and doesn't take the
plot of any of the films but in-
volves him in a new battle against
the evil Darkseid who is out to
takeover the world You can play

the part of the blue (or is it red?)
underpanted hero or the evil
being as they battle to find the
anti-life formula that is the key to
controlling every person on
Earth
Nexus is another new pro-
ject expected early next year and
features animated action and ad-
venture It is
a
game with no rules
so that the player has to find out
what to do for himself within the
basic scenario It takes a topical
view though since you are bat-
tling against the evil of drugs
issuing from a South American
country
All the Beyond games will fly
into your hands for £9 95 each
and you can bet they'll be differ-
ent because as Clive Bailey of
Beyond told us "we don't do
arcade games "
New Gen, New Blood
New Generation are turning
their attention to the Amstrad
market
with

conversions of their
existing titles on other machines
and the prospect of more
original titles next year
Jonah Bar rington's Squash is
the first title out and we should
have
a
review in the next
issue.
It
features
a
3D vie w from behind a
squash court
with
two players
wacking the ball around while JB
calls the score in Reprosound.
We haven 7 heard the speech yet
- but you won t need any
hardware to get it.
Also on the way is the
Trashman
series of games
starting
with
Trashman himself
cleaning up the streets of Britain
and

then
moving to Travel with
Trashman where he cleans up
the rest of the world. Those two
should be our this year
with a,
er.
threequel due next year as a
simultaneous release
with
the
Spectrum
title.
It's called
Trashman goes Moonlighting in
which
the rubbish hero returns
to CB to complete his original
job bur
with
lots of moonlighting
tasks
like windo w cleaning and
hedge cutting on the side.
To hear JB calling the score
or
Trashman
clanging bins will
cost you £7.95 on cassette.
'

AH
th«
r,?*»
that's
fit
to
prm:
AMSTRAD ACTION NOVEMBER 198519
AIUXT
wum
nmtM
Kuma keep coming
Kuma's prodigious range for the
Amstrad keeps expanding with
their latest ORIGINAL release for
the machine being called Argo
Navis and featuring arcade ad-
venture and shoot-em-up
elements.
The game features a 96
screen space ship in which you
have to collect
12
crystals These
then have to be taken to the com-
mand cabins to activate the self
destruct mechanism before you
make your escape.
We'll be reviewing
the

game
next month but if you can't wait it
will cost you £6.95 on cassette.
of War
Novagen's Mercenary - the
follow-up to theit CBM 64 hit
I
Encounter- will be appearing
on
the
Amstrad some time in Nov-
ember at £9.95on cassette.
The game stars a mercenary
working on a strange planet's
surface. It's a mixture of flight
simulator and shoot-'em-up and
makes extensive use of vector
graphics.
Novagen's Bruce Jordan
said
that
the Amstrad version was
'even more impressive' than the
Commodore one and added that
the company has 'a commitment
to the machine'. But Encounter
will not be making an ap-
pearance on the Arnold.
Gargoyle
triple treat

Fans of Dun Darach will be de-
lighted with the news that Gar-
goyle are writing a trilogy of
games for the Amstrad called
The Siege of Earth Trilogy.
They'll take a more futuristic
viewpoint than the previous ad-
ventures and star a space-suited
hero.
The first game is called Mar-
sport with the second and third
ones being Fornax and Cath.
Marsport will be reviewed in
issue three with Fornax due for
release in January next year and
Cath in April.
Also on schedule for Novem-
ber is Sweevo
's
World in which
Gargoyle have taken
a
more light
hearted view of things with a
spin-off from their animated ad-
ventures. The game is only £7.95
compared
to the £9.95
of
the

other
games.
Virgin works on
Shogun
Virgin Software, enjoying an
almost unequalled reputation
among Amstrad owners
thanks
to
the success of Sorcery, are wor-
king on two new games titles.
Strangeloop is another multi-
screen arcade-adventure, this
time with some
250 locations.
You
guide a spaceman round a
bizarre, derelict robot factory,
shooting enemies and trying to
solve a number of pretty devious
puzzles. Release is due by the
end of October.
Nearer Christmas will come
Shogun. an "icon-driven" adven-
ture based around the cult TV
series based around the James
Clavell novel. Our martial arts
correspondent reports that the
game features a number of inde-
pendent characters, your aim

being to get them to comply with
your wishes.
Chocks away!
Mirror soft have Dynamite Dan
and Spitfire 40 appearing over
the
horizon at the end of October.
Dan is an arcade adventure
featuring platforms, lifts and
wacky hazards. The hero has to
foil Dr. Blitzen's plans for world
domination by cracking the safe,
stealing the plans and making his
escape
in a
blimp. All for
£8.95
on
cassette.
Spitfire 40 lets you play the
Douglas Bader-ish role of a
trainee Spitfire pilot in 1940. This
fiight-simulator-with-combat
dares you to work your way up
from novice to Group Captain
with more decorations than a
wedding cake. Could this be
your finest hour? It will cost you
£9.95
to find out.

Mole from Mosaic
Mosaic, who brought you Level
9's Erik the Viking, are now
bringing out
a
game based on the
mega-best-seller. The Secret
Diary of Adrian Mole. This little
package is also from the Level 9
stable, and boasts some attrac-
tive graphics. What's more, the
text seems to capture the spirit of
the book better than either the
play or the TV series of the same
name. Full review in next month's
Adventure pages.
Elite's commando action
The hit corn-op arcade game believe •! will become one of me
Commando
has become the centre best-selling arcade games ol the
ol a legal wrangle between year
software houses Elite and Alligata Meanwhile Elite are also
Elite, who obtained the licence for pressing ahead with a version of
the game, took Aiiigata to court to
Scooby Doo
for the Amstrad.
prevent them releasing a title called Costing £8.95 on cassette and
Who Dares Wmi
.vhich. according £12.95 on disk (more than the
to Elite, was effectively a copy of Commodore or Spectrum versions.

Commando.
tsk. tsk) the game features the
Alligata's Mike Mahoney told lovable characters Scooby and
us they had now agreed to make Shaggy in what Elite describe as
alterations to their game - the "the first ever computer cartoon",
scenario is being moved from the Well, we've heard that one before,
jungle to a town. Both companies Elite's Steve Wilcox says the
are still planning to produce player's role is as director of an
versions for the Amstrad interactive cartoon, The characters
Commando,
which features a are said to communicate by means
jungle soldier running not with of speech bubbles, although no
machine gun and grenades, is one here can ever remember the
reckoned to be the biggest arcade real Scooby Doo saying anything
hit s>nce
Track and Field and
Elite other than "Scooby-dooby-doo."
Memory Boosters
Expansion cards that will give all
CPC Amstrads up to 512K of
memory are on the way from
German company Datamedia.
who hope to have them on the
British market well before
Christmas.
Technical details are as yet
unavailable, but
it
seems unlikely
that the cards will allow 464 and

664 owners to upgrade to 6128
specification. What the extra
memory will supply is a potenti-
ally huge increase in BASIC
storage space, of particular ad-
vantage in the designing of
screens and animation.
The cards are inserted in-
side the Amstrad rather than
plugging into the back, and
begin
at 64K.
Prices have yet
to
be
established, but if the Deutsch-
mark cost is anything to go by. a
64 K card should be around £30
and512K about £115.
Datamedia have also devel-
oped
a 51 /4
inch disc drive for the
Amstrad which they expect to be
marketing here too. The drive
should allow
6128
owners
to run a
huge range of business

programs. No prices are avail-
able yet.
6128 adventuring
Level 9 point out to us that their
excellent range of adventures
can be run on the 6128 by typing
in the same instructions that are
required for the 664.
For Colossal Adventure, Ad-
venture
Quest.
Dungeon Adven-
ture.
Snowball
and
LordsofTime.
you plug in your tape-recorder,
switch on. and enter the
following:
|
TAPE
MEMORY &2FFF
LOAD
"AD VENTURE",&3000
Start the tape and press any key.
When the tape
has
loaded, enter:
CALL
&

3000
For Return to
Eden,
Emerald
Isle. Red Moon and The Worm in
Paradises imply enter:
|
TAPE
RUN""
Start the tape and press any key
when the computer asks you to.
Naughty Zelda
Wo ue outraged to hoar that a planned
Amstrad Qtlo from Audjogomc
is
claim od to
have a world first (or a computer game - a
pornographic
cover.
Never mind
the
cover,
tho till© IS ovil enough. It's called Space
Agent
Zelda
Meets tho
Bug Eyes.
Tho mind
buggies.
Which one did YOU visit?

Bit of a men up over the Amstrad
show. Or ahowa, to be more precise.
We're attending (or, by the time you
read
this,
will have attended) the one
at
London'* Novotel.
But
there
also
is
(was)
another ahow planned for
a
dif-
ferent site nearby on the same two
daya,
October
5th
and 6th.
The
confusion stems from the
(act
that the company originally organis-
ing the
Novotel
ahow
went
into

liquid-
ation. Databaae Publications stepped
into the breach, but unfortunately ao.
did anothe r company -Editionacheme
-made up of former director* of Com-
puter
Marketplace.
A mesay quarrel between
tho
two
reaulted in Databaae acooping the
Novotel
aite and
Editionacheme mov-
ing
to
a
new
aite
but offering
a free bua
service from the Novotel to its own
ahow. All in all, a alighUy ridiculous
situation which, at time of going to
press, showa no sign of resolving
itself.
So which ahow turned out to be
the REAL ahow ? Did
anything excit-
ing

happen at either ? And what was
the result of hundreds of Amstrad
ownera coming into persons! contact
with the appalling staff who run this
magazine ? These and many other
questions, provided we survive the
exhibition, will be anawered next
month.
Golden line-up
US Gold have revealed their
planned release dates for the
Amstrad versions of their top-
selling
titles.
Raid
is
first off - due
out
a
week after this issue hits the
news-stands. Next is Impossible
Mission on November 1st, fol-
lowed a week later by Bruce Lee
(you can read an exclusive re-
view of the latter in this issue).
Dambusters, Beach-head II
and Return to Oz are all due
before Christmas with Winter
Games and Bounty Bob Strikes
Back coming soon after. Standby

for
a
hot American winter.
Eek« a Mouse!
The AMX
mouse,
already
a
big
hit
on the BBC micro, is now avail-
able for all the Amstrad com-
puters except the 8256.
The mouse is supplied with
four programs on cassette and
gives art capabilities that AMX
are likening to the Macintosh's.
It's a very trendy package with
icons. pull-down menus,
windows and pointers.
The software supplied al-
Space contraption
The end of October should see
the release of S.P.A.C.E. and
Contraption from Audiogenic,
both
at
around
£8
on cassette.

S.P.A.C.E. - Space Pilot Ad-
vanced Combat Emulator - is a
high-tec flight simulator which
Audiogenic claim 'will revo-
lutionise the training of our space
pilots.'
Contraption is a graphically
cute platform game which ICON
Software are converting, in con-
junction with Audiogenic, from
their BBC version. It should fea-
ture
a
total of
20
screens.
lows you to create and store pic-
tures using a variety of techni-
ques. utensils and backgrounds.
Spray-can mode, for instance,
will allow you to behave like a
New York graffiti artist
while vandalising nothing more
than your monitor's screen.
Rodents don't come cheap
though - the AMX Mouse plus
software will set you back £79.95.
20 NOVEMBER 1985 AMSTRAD ACTION
Looking
to the future

• • • • •
Hitsquad attack at Christmas
Four famous software houses have combined to make a compilation tape for
Christmas called "They Sold a Million". Ocean. US Cold. Ultimate and
Software Projects have all contributed a program with two of them being
specially written for the Amstrad. The tape will be marketed under the
specially created "Hitsquad" label.
The four games for the Amstrad are Beach-Head. Daley Thompson's
Decathlon, Jet Set Willy And Sabre Wulf. AticAtac was originally in the line
up instead of Sabre Wutfbut you can still expect t5 see the original Ultimate
arcade adventure and the latest Spectrum release Nightshade in the com-
ing months, although they can't say when.
Surprisingly. Jet Set Willy is also being re-written to correspond to the
original small version which was the best seller on other micros. This
seems crazy, because Arnold owners already have the extended version
(known as Jet Set Willy II on other micros). Why anyone should want to
rewrite a game to make it smaller, easier and less interesting is a mystery to
us.
Still, the compilation is good value for money at £9.95 on Cassette and
£ 12.95 on disk and between the four games featured on the three machines
(there are Spectrum and CBM 64 versions as well) they really have "sold a
million."
time
Modern dating techniques
[/Nice little ad this,
spotted in one of
our rival
magazines Good
to
see Amstrad

software being
used in such a
worthy cause.
(PS. If you spot
any other snippets
anywhere which
might appeal to
other Amstrad
owners why not
send them to
us ?)
(PPS If there
are any females
out there
(preferably
human)
who'd like
to communicate
with our software
editor using pen
and paper, well,
what are you
waiting for )
Male 34 wishes to communicate with
females using mini office word
processor. Send your introductory
cassette and I will reply using the
cassette which can be re-used. Give file
name, Mr Harman 74, Arthur St.
Withersea,

N.
Humberside.
Elite Imminent
Those lovely boys at Firebird
and their Torus programmers in
Scotland have been slaving away
over Amstrad Elite. The good
news is that it's nearly here and
although the BBC original is a
year old the game is still high in
the charts and shows every sign
of being better than ever on the
Amstrad.
Latest prediction is that it
should be
in
the shops by Novem-
ber. Hold onto your joysticks
because this is where the great
space battle begins.
Clever programming
corner
The sophisticated mathematical
manipulation of something called
fractals lies
at
the heart of two big
1
new titles coming your way from
I

Activision Rill Blazer and Res-,
cue on Fractalus. programs
originally written by the Amer-1
tcan company Lucasfilms. have,
created quite a stir on the Com-
modore 64 ana Atari with their
I
fast-moving 3D graphics. Expect,
_
the Ajnstradj/ersions November
Asterisk the Aussie
Not content with taking the mar-
ket by storm with
Fist,
Melbourne
House are planning
an
even more
impressive Autumn schedule. In
addition to their adventure re-
leases Terrormolinos and Lord of
the Rings they have games based
around that famous gallic fighter
Asterisk and a new combat game
Fighting Warrior.
Fighting Warrior is similar to
Fist but features two guys battling
with swords instead of fists.
There's no indication yet of what
the Asterisk game will be but

knowing what he and his mate
Obelisk get up to it should be fun.
Sizzling ipftwore dept
AMSTRAD ACTION HOT 20
Tasword for 6128
Tasman have launched a new im-
proved version of their best-
selling word processor Tasword
to take advantage of the 6128's
spec. The program occupies
nearly all the RAM in one bank o
memory and stores text in the
other 64K.
There are many modific-
ations. but users of previous ver-
sions will surely be best pleased
with a normal insert mode and in-
stantaneous re-formatting. On
earlier versions of Tasword the
user had to type in the required
number of spaces before insert-
ing text. Re-formatting was a
lengthy business in which you
watched the whole text shoving
itself around on screen.
Other major changes are that
the main menu does not now ap-
pear on overlays, but
flips
on and

off so
that
there
is
no need to keep
the disc in the drive. The Find and
Replace function has been exten-
ded and now offers the option of
ignoring or taking into account
upper and lower case
characters.
An interesting inclusion is a
Notepad function - four blank
pages on the menu where the
user can put notes or text to be
transferee! to the body and vice
versa. Tasword 6128costs £24.95
on disc and is available now.
Amsoft burns rubber
Among the attractions at a
packed Amstrad stand at the
PCW show in September was a
demo of one of the hot new
Amsoft titles 3D Grand Prix
Not just another 3D motor-
racing game.
this.
The 3Deffect is
extremely impressive for a start.
Your driver's-eye-view shows

the front wheels actually turning,
and the road zooming toward you
in very realistic manner. A fur-
ther excellent touch is the provi-
sion of views from two wing mir-
rors. This allows you to see as
cars approach you from behind
and thereby take suitable action.
It must be said we were hop-
ing to give the program a full re-
view in this issue, but in the end
Amsoft weren't able to get
a
fully-
finished version to us in time.
Standby for next month.
3D Grand Prix is one of the
titles Amstrad are using for a
multi-million advertising cam-
paign this autumn. The idea is to
show that software on the Arnold
is now as good as on any home
micro. Other programs being
used are 3D Boxing, another
impressive-looking game we
hope to review next month, and
3D Stuntrider reviewed in this
issue. All three games are part of
Amsoft's new gold range which
are being sold in much-

improved packaging using mini
video cassette boxes.
Vyvyan,you
The game of the show of The
i
Young Ones, from Orpheus,
should be on Amstrad screens in
mid-October
a: a
price of £7 95 on
cassette
The game features all your
favourite creeps from the TV
show Vyvyan. Rtck. Mike and
Neil Players of the game have to
choose one of the four characters
while the computer controls the
other three Characters can
speak to each o:her and speech-
|
bubbles will appear from the ant-1
,
mated figures' mouths
1
Here it is, our first chart of the
current top-selling Amstrad
titles, as supplied to us by Gallup
(to be carefully distinguished
from our readers' chart of
favourite titles olsewhero in this

issue).
It shows Melbourne House
still firmly at number one with
Fist, probably tho biggest selling
title ever on the Amstrad. Also
selling well, and deservedly so,
are the four Mastertronic budget
releases which are good value in
anybody's book.
Arnold owners' taste for lots
of different software is evident in
the appearance of Scrabble, Red
Arrows, Red Moon and the still
popular Dun Darach.
The chart was compiled by
Gallup over the four weeks up to
20th September and is now virtu-
ally tho only sales chart worth
looking at. Then again, to see
which games YOU actually like
turn to Hot
Stuff.
1.
T«E WAY OF THE EXPLODING FIST
Melbourne House
2. FRANK BRUNO'S BOXING
Elite
3. FINDERS KEEPERS
Mastertronic
4. CHILLER

Mastertronic
5. NONTERRAQUEOUS
Mastertronic
6. SCRABBLE
Leisure Genius
7. BEACH-HEAD
US Gold/Amsoft
8. RED ARROWS
Database
9. LOCOMOTION
Mastertronic
10. BRIAN JACKS SUPERSTAR CHALLENGE
Martech
11. STARION
Melbourne House
12. ALIEN 8
Ultimate
13. AIR WOLF
Amsoft/Elite
14. RED MOON
Level 9
15.
DALEY THOMPSON'S DECATHLON
Ocean
16.
A VIEW TO A KILL
Domark
17. GRAND PRIX RALLY
D
Amsoft/Loriciels

18.
DUN DARACH
Gargoyle
19.
PROJECT FUTURE
Gremlin Graphics
20.
SHORT'S FUSE
Firebird
AMSTRAD ACTION NOVEMBER 1985 21
)»j
r
THE GREAT
LI1MK-UP
BEGINS
^ \ N \ \* y \
The telecommunications bandwagon is starting to roll, folks - time to consider linking Arnold to the telephone
"As the Amstrad computers continued their unstoppable
expansion throughout the still-dividedEuropa continent, an event
took place (Earthdate: October 1,1985) whose significance, at the
time, was underestimated by many earthlings. A special service
was launched allowing Amstrad owners nationwide to link up
with
each other through the British nation's 'telephone network' (for
explanation of this primitive communications system see Vol
22,
pl046).
In consequence these fortunate people could receive
immediate news ofAmstrad-related events, download programs,
send messages to each other and access the 300.000 pages of

'Prestel' (a database which at this time
was
considered extremely
large!). It was the launch of this new service which removed the last
remaining advantage offered by other more primitive home
computers, and thereby cleared the way for Amstrad's world
domination and all that that entailed.''
Extract from HISTORY OF THE EARTH Vol 23, published by the
Alan Sugar Corporation, 3446 AD.
One of the main complaints you hear about home computers is that
they' re good for games and nothing else. Although in the case of an
Amstrad
this
is a load of cobblers, it's always pleasing to encounter
new uses for the machine.
Telecommunications is one such. Indeed there are people
who will tell you that it leaves all other uses completely in the
shade. Your micro and modem, they will say. offer you an early
trip to the 21st century. Instant access to limitless information. Fast,
cheap communication. Shopping and banking from your living
room. And so on.
That may or may not be
so.
What is certain is that investing
a
bit
of cash in the right gear will open up a whole new world of
possibilities for your machine.
Probably the most interesting is getting access to the new
Amstrad database launched at the start of October. By taking out a

subscription you are given a unique membership number
together with a phone number at anearby exchange which will
allow you to dial up the database at local call rates.
Once you' re connected. pages of information comes down the
phone line and appear on your monitor screen. By making choices
from the various menus offered you select what part of the
database you get access to. Among the benefits being promised
are:
• Daily updated news of Amstrad products and software.
• Direct interaction with other Amstrad owners all over in the
country (including us). You can send and receive messages to any
other subscriber.
• Access to software which, if you have the right type of interface,
can be downloaded to your machine and saved on tape or disk.
Although the aspects directly related to the Amstrad may be
of greatest interest, there is a lot more besides. The database is
part of the huge Prestel service and is being run by Viewfax 258
and marketed by Micronet 800. These two companies already
supply a vast number of pages on Prestel of interest to computer
enthusiasts at large. These for example could allow you to:
• Try to find a buyer for your discarded Spectrum by leaving a
public message on one of the "swop shop" pages.
• Take part in a nationwide interactive game such as Starnet or
Round Britain Race.
• Design attractive graphics pages and put them on public
display.
• Interview a computer celebrity on the Wednesday evening
Celebrtiy Chatline.
22 NOVEMBER 1985 AMSTRAD ACTION Have you payed your phone bUP
How much it costs

JOB
SEARCH
Some of the 50,000 screens on M-cronct
But whether it's just for a bit of evening entertainment, or
whether you want to take it a lot further, there's little doubt that
hooking Arnold to a modem will open the door to a world of mind-
boggling potential.
One person who'd go along with that is David Husband of
Skywave Software, the man who's developed what is probably the
most sophisticated communications interface available for the
Amstrad. "I think the current level of interest in computer
telecommunications is merely the tip of the iceberg." he told us.
"Once the man in the street discovers what he can do with his
computer and a telephone, all hell will break loose. It'll be like
Beatlemania.
"There's no doubt that it will change the way we live. For
example a lot of people will be able to work from home and just
communicate with the office by modem. And you'll be able to get
all the news and information you need on your screen whenever
you want it -1 think the writing is on the wall for newspapers. The
way we communicate with each other will change - the ordinary
guy doesn't yet realise what he can do with electronic mail.
"All it's waiting for is for the public to be aware of
it.
Until now
Amstrad owners have had been in the frustrating position of
seeing BBC and Spectrum owners getting a lot of fun out of
telecoms. but not being able to take part themselves. Now all that's
changing. The Amstrad machines are very good, and we think
they deserve good products to allow them to realise their full

potential."
s^Ssr "
using
tho «*n\«
*rvic«.
tolophone lino.
Between them Micronet and Viewfax have over 50.000
screens of info on offer. But even that pales in comparison with the
main Prestel database of over 300.000 pages. Nosing through it can
be a very time-consuming (and not exactly cost-free) process.
Here, for example, is a random sequence of entries taken from the
Subject index which is part of the 100-page Prestel directory
supplied to all users: Careers information. Cargo Handling,
Caribbean. Carlisle. Carpets. Cars, Cartridges. Cash registers.
Cassettes. Catalogue shopping. Catering services. Cats. Cattle
breeding. Cayman Islands. Ceilings.
Many people, especially businessmen, could find Prestel
invaluable. And the service is expanding all the time. Already if
you open an account with the Bank of Scotland you can organise
payments and standing orders from your armchair, as well as have
a constant check on your balance and last 100 transactions.
Similarly, although so far it's pretty limited, it's possible to order
certain goods from your keyboard, paying for them by tapping in
your credit card number. One supermarket in the Midlands
actually allows people to order their groceries this way - they only
have to stir from the armchair to collect the goods at the front door
when the delivery van arrives.
Other uses you could put your modem to include accessing
one of the rapidly growing number of other databases offering
more specialised information, making contact with local computer

owners by means of a nearby bulletin board, or transferring files
and programs to and from other computers. More sophisticated
before you actually
rolevant page.
to enable you to uae them.
Sometimes all three can be
bought in a tingle package, as
with the CDS modem or the
special package' we our t el vet
are offering in this iaaue.
Alternatively you could buythe
Amstrad RS232 interface which
includes the relevant software
and add the modem of your
choice.
However you do it. you're
unlikely to get together a
workable package for less than
£100-£160.
You could use your modem
simply to access one of the many
privately-run, free-accesa
bulletin boards. But these are
unlikely to sustain your interest
for too long, and besides, unless
you
limit
yourself to those local to
you, you could run up a
substantial phone bill on long

distance calk.
So before long you will want
to subscribe to Preatel'a
microcomputing service which
will allow you acceaa to the
Amatrad database aa well aa the
reat of Micronet, Viewfax and
Prestel. Thia costs
a
total of £16.50
a quarter (£28 for buaineaaea).
In
addition you have to pay to
acceaa certain pagea of the
databaae which are more
expenaive to update. A typical
charge might be 20p. You are
you are charged simply for being
on Prestel between 8am and 6pm
on weekdaya and Saturday
morninga. This ia one of the two
main reaaona why hacking
ia
beat
done at night. The other ia your
phone bill. One of the big
advantages of dialling Preatel ia
that thanka to a clever
networking ayatem, almoat
everyone can reach

it
with a local
call. If you limit yourself
to
cheap
rate dialling,
the
coat works
out at
40p
per hour.
Here then ia the checklist of
coata:
EQUIPMENT (one-off cost
of,
aay,
£130).
MICRONET SUBSCRIPTION
(£16.80 per quarter)
SPECIAL PAGE ACCESS
(Dependa on you. Say £10 a
quarter)
CONNECT TIME CHARGE
(Nothing if you stick
to
evenings)
TELEPHONE BILL (1 hoar three
eveninga a week - £18.60 a
quarter)
Well, telecomputing

certainly ian't free. You could
oonaole yourself with the thought
that
it'a cheaper
than
going down
the pub every night, a practice
which your purchaae of a modem
would almoat certainly put an end
to!
uses such as hacking into the main computer of the Ministry of
Defence in search of Britain's nuclear codes may take a little
practice.
payed
our phone bui?
AMSTRAD ACTION NOVEMBER 1985 23
o L/F OH
nter OFF
•Xoff OFF
Choo«nS*hejear^
decide how wriowlY T° adequate Yet if.
equipment
you
enomou.tn^W-^^ equipment '
you
enom°u» ^I^cing
COMMUNICATOR
KDS, £153
• Not a BT approved modem.
• Impossible to ase for non-modem RS232 communication.

• Prestel software on oar version in early stage of
development.
• Documentation not very clear.
Part of the appeal of this package is that there is "nothing else to
buy". Although £150 may seem like a lot to risk on a mail order
deal, it does getyou an auto-dial modem capable of both the
1200/75 baud mode of operation used by Prestel and the 300/300
baud mode used by many private bulletin boards. That's pretty
good going.
On the other hand the package does have certain drawbacks,
not least of which is the fact that the modem isn't BT approved.
Although after a few weeks' illegal use here at the AAHQ we can
report that no' one touching it has died of electric shock, it still
probably isn't the thing to have around when the telephone
engineer calls.
Another limitation is that you can't access the built-in RS232
interface except through the modem. This makes it less flexible
than having a separate interface and modem - you can't use it to
transfer files to another micro except by going down
a
phone-line.
If you want to use the modem with Prestel you could also
encounter difficulties. On our version the Prestel software was
acknowledged to be at an early stage, resulting in a very strange
look to certain pages. Certainly you can't use it to download
telesoftware. but you can print out Prestel pages.
MULTI-PORT
Skywave Software. £99.95
J Ma in ConnAttds are
j TERMINAL < en t

e
j PRESTEL
< en t
e
1 GOLD
< ente
KEY-PAD < ente
SKYTEL
< en t o
COMMANDS
< en t
e
5
"I" Connands
Accey» t
jjSee Manual for
informatlon.
nor
e
SUy-aveMulti-po't
„ _:
a
l offe*-
8
*
CC
* „ you can pick
24 NOVEMBER 1985 AMSTRAD ACTION Making connociiona
However
in

some ways the software is easier to use than that of
the Amstrad interface. Prestel or Bulletin board format can be
selected from a menu at the touch of single key. And the autodial
facility means that you can simply key in the number on your
keyboard. Indeed if you have a programming bent, you could
easily write a program which would store the numbers of 50
different bulletin boards and dial them automatically on request.
In view of the large number of engaged tones you can get
contacting bulletin boards, this might be very useful.
But overall, this package is more likely to appeal to a
dedicated hacker than an ordinary user.
• Offers both 300/300 band rate and 1200/75.
• Has auto-dial and auto-answer facilities.
• Inbuilt ROM software allows easy selection of features.
• Includes the most sophisticated communications
software available for the Amstrad.
• Currently the only interface which will download software
from Micron et/Viewfax.
• Reasonably user-friendly - options presented in on-screen
menus supported by large manual.
• Good facilities for storage or printout of data from Prestel
or bulletin boards.
• Comes in different versions each tailor-made for a
particular modem.
• Not the cheapest way of getting on line.
• Only four colours available in Prestel format.
The Skywave Multi-port interface has one enormous advantage
over its competitors - it's been developed directly in conjunction
with the launch of the new Amstrad database, and as
a

result is
currently the only equipment capable of down-loading
programs from it.
The value of
this
obviously depends to a large extent on the
quality of software available on the database. Judging from the
experience of previous databases, the quality is not likely to be
all that good in the early stages. But this soon changes as the
database takes off.
T
(
link-up
begins
Even if telesoftware isn't your priority. Multi-port's
sophistication makes it a very attractive product. What you get
for your hundred pounds is more than just an RS232 There's also
a 24-bit parallel port and
a
mini sidways Rom card.
The parallel port is configured the same v/ay as that on the
BBC micro, the idea being that you can use it
to
attach some of the
wide range of Beeb add-ons available, especially valuable for
anyone who wants to put his Arnold to educational use
The sideways Rom card has space for just one extra Rom
chip - you could use it to run. say. one of the new Rom-based
word-processors instead of having to fork out around £30 for a
separate add-on.

However the heart of Multi-port is the Skycom software
supplied with it (in Rom). This gives you enormous flexibility in
the way you use the RS232. especially v/hen it comes to modem
use. For example you can arrange for your conversation with
a
bulletin board to be "spooled" into memory and stored on disk
or tape, so that it's available for future reference. A large number
of commands are available - if you don't have the manual to hand,
the software can prompt you through the use of "pull-down
menus".
The SVywove AAulli-port
One limitation is that only four on-screen colours are
available when contacting Prestel. so certain pages could look
a
little strange, but at least the text is clear to read
The interface is being sold packaged with various modems,
an arrangement which not only makes the overall price very
reasonable, but also allows the software to be amended slightly
for each package to make best use of
the
features of individual
modems
All in
all.
an excellent piece of kit.
AMSTRAD RS232C
Amstrad, £49.95
This official
offering won't
in

itself allow you
to
contact Prestel. etc -
you'll also need a modem and connecting lead. However the
interface does include the relevant software -
it
comes on
a
built-in
ROM chip, so there's no tedious loading from cassette required.
The software allows more or less the full range of uses of an
RS232 interface. Baud rates range from 50 up to 19.200. allowing
the option of superfast communication with another micro. This
can be done in two ways. "Intelligent" file transfer using the
interestingly-named commands BLOW and SUCK invokes built-in
routines to check that files haven't been corrupted during
transfer. However if the other computer isn't an Amstrad with the
same interface, you would first have to type in an equivalent
program listings are given for a Sinclair Spectrum. QL and any
CP/M micro. Alternatively you could resort to unintelligent file
transfer (commands OUTFILE and INFILE) and just hope no errors
creep in.
But v/hen it comes to using the interface with Prestel (and the
new Amstrad database), it's
a
little less satisfactory. For
a
start you
have to set the various baud rates and other bits of
RS232

protocol
manually before invoking the PRESTEL command.
Secondly the characters which appear on screen in Prestel
mode are somewhat hard to read. Amstrad have reduced their
resolution deliberately so as to get on screen all the colours used
by Prestel - other interfaces limit themselves to the four colours
and keep the higher resolution. (BOFFIN NOTE: The Amstrad
RS232
uses mode
0
graphics which in normal resolution could only
give a 20-column screen. The others use mode 1.) It's a case of
swings and roundabouts.
The most serious limitation is that you cannot use the interface
to download the software on offer in the new Amstrad database.
Some people would consider that this removes the main point of
subscribing
in
the
first
place, although if it's just information you're
after, it's not too bad a handicap.
Contacting bulletin boards on 300 baud should provide no
problem, provided the modem you get can cope with that baud-
rate.
One other annoyance is that the interface has its own power
supply and by the time you've also plugged in
a
modem, there'll
be quite a lot of wires flapping round the place, something the

Amstrad was supposed to avoid. The manual which accompanies
the interface is pretty good as such manuals go. but will still be
pretty confusing if this is your first contact with
an
RS232. As well as
a comprehensive explanation of the 30 or so available bar
commands,
it
gives advice on such things as the most appropriate
way to wire up a connecting cable.
GOO
NEWS
• Built in ROM software.
• Many options available for transferring files including
error checking.
• Includes Prestel mode.
• Good manual.
B
N
W
• Separate power supply to plug in.
• Can't download telesoftware from Prestel.
• Can be complicated to use.
KEEPING MTOUCH
AMSTRAD ACTION NOVEMBER 1985 25